The Bridge Once Burned
by Heart-of-Storms
Summary: GrayXJuvia A/U: Everyone makes mistakes, but some mistakes can last a lifetime. This is what Gray thought after a drunken night of misjudgment lead to the loss of a friend. But when life gives him a second chance to make things right will he be able to recover what he ruined? Can he gather the broken pieces of something he took for granted when he had it and build something new?


_****Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted here from Fairy Tail****_

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 **A/N: Hey all, here is another Gruvia piece I have started working on. This one is _NOT _a one-shot and I am planning to have more chapters coming so I hope you will all like the progression of this story.**

 ****Also a side note for anyone who may be interested, I was listening to music while writing this and Wrecking Ball came on and it was a heavy inspiration for this piece. (The version I was listening to is a cover by Sam Tsui you can find this version on YouTube if you're curious, I am in love with this man's voice). Anyway, happy fandoming, Enjoy!**

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 _Slap!_

The sound echoed against the cobblestone of the dark abandoned street. It was almost as if even the rain paused its consistent drumming just so the sound could ring out harshly against the silence of the night. The pain was more than just a sting on his cheek, it seemed like it penetrated to his very core, sizzling his soul. Gray looked at the woman standing before him, her vibrant blue hair was dark and flat weighed down with water; just like every piece of clothing that she wore. But the most painful thing was the droplets of water the rolled continually down her face. _Drip...drip...drop..._ he had no way to really know she was crying with the heavy downpour soaking them. But he knew. He knew he had made Juvia cry, and the sky cried with her.

 _Drip...drip...drop…_

"Juvia…" he whispered softly his brain suddenly jumping into overdrive with the reality of the situation. Reaching out he went to touch her shoulder but stopped as he watched her take a step back shaking her head and looking down. She crossed her arms over her stomach, hugging herself tightly as if to push away the cold, or the hurt.

"No." her voice was barely a whisper in the rain. "I won't fall for your tricks any more."

The rain pelted his skin, yet he hardly felt anything. He was becoming numb. "My tricks?" he almost sneered; the guilt over the pain he had caused her was becoming once again drowned in drunken rage. His body was rejecting any feelings of responsibility for what had happened because if he accepted it the feelings would become to real.

"Yes." Juvia replied softly looking back up at him only to take another step back when she saw the look on his face.

"My ticks?" he barked clenching his fist. The anger overcame him, pushing him past the point of good judgment and far beyond reach of his compassion. "I'm not the one who has been obsessively stalking you for years. I'm not the one who flings myself at you despite the multiple discussions about taking things to far." his voice rose with each statement "I'm not the one who puts myself in situations to get hurt when warned to stay away!"

Gray was now standing only a breath away, once more looking down on her with his intense dark eyes. Juvia swallowed and cowered slightly; this caused Gray to sober a bit and take a step back letting out an exasperated sigh. He wasn't in the right state to be arguing about this. He was still smashed, soaked head to foot and he did not have the tact to deal with an emotional woman right now, especially Juvia.

"Juvia listen." he replied forcing himself to stay calm, "I'm really drunk, it's late and we both are soaked. I don't really think right now is the best time to…"

"Juvia doesn't care how drunk you are now!" she interrupted standing up straighter with a frown.

"Hold on," Gray attempted to reason with her. A sad Juvia was hard to deal with and pulled at his heart strings, but an angry and hurt Juvia was scary. "I'm just sayin…"

"No!" she cut him off again.

"Stop cutting me off!" he roared stepping forward. Juvia attempted to step back once more but lost her footing falling back into a puddle. The pitiful sight of her on the ground looking up at him, fear in her eyes, squelched the fire in him like a bucket of ice. "I'm sorry…" carefully he took a step forward and reached out his hand to help her up. "How about we go inside and dry off. I'll get some coffee and sober up and then we can talk."

Juvia looked at his hand hesitantly before looking up at him. But instead of accepting the gesture she got up herself and before he knew what was happening she took off running in the other direction. Gray cursed under his breath.

"Juvia!"

He ran after her but she didn't stop and it was hard for Gray to keep up with her. He was drunk, the ground was wet, and the rain seemed to be coming down harder than ever in thick sheets making it hard to see. With all her blue she was almost indistinguishable from the drops of rain in his blurry vision. It was as if she had become one with the rain.

When he saw her reach the door to her apartment he urged his legs to move faster. "Juvia!" he yelled again hoping to get her to stop. But again she did not and the dark street filled with light as her front door opened and Juvia disappeared inside. He almost followed her in but quickly found himself nose to nose with her grumpy, rather large step-brother who glared down at him with hate filled red eyes. Gray hissed in annoyance. "Just let me by will ya, I need to talk to Juvia."

"I don't think so." he said folding his arms. "Leave. Her. Alone." he paused after each word for emphasis. "If I see ya near her again I'll punch you so hard you'll be seein' stars in yer grave." And with that the man lifted his heavy boot and kicked him straight in the gut.

Gray flew back across the street into a trash can that clanked echoing in his head painfully as he slid into a large puddle of water. The door slammed loudly and then the street was dark once more. The only sound heard was the rain falling on the cobblestone.

 _Drip, drip, drop._

Gray leaned his head back looking up at the sky with a sigh before letting his eyes slide shut. He didn't want to deal with this, he just wanted to sleep…. _to sleep…_

Gray knew he had crossed a line when for the next week Juvia refused to answer any of his texts or return his calls. But he really knew he had screwed up when two and a half weeks later, after receiving the cold shoulder from his former number one fan, he overheard Juvia telling of few of their friends that she had accepted a job in the town she grew up in. The news stung so deep that it was almost like he was being slapped all over again.

This time he didn't even try to stop her; he made no effort to try and talk to her or apologize. She left Magnolia that weekend still hating him for what he had done. And he deserved it. Gray knew that he deserved to have her hate him for the rest of their lives. He just stood back and watched the bridge between the two of them burn to ash.


End file.
